When former NFL quarterback Cam Newton called quarterbacks Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, Jared Goff and Tua Tagovailoa game managers he was called out by many in the media.
Some questioned how Newton, a former NFL MVP (2015) could say that and not be chastised for it. Some actually compared Newton’s career to the guys he called game managers, which isn’t a bad term at all. Especially when you hear what he says it entails, which is doing what the game plan calls for and not hurting your team with mistakes.
He then said there were only three to five game-changers at the QB position in the NFL, and they include Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers, and Josh Allen.
Fair take from someone who’s more than qualified to speak his piece. After weeks of backlash for this take, Newton’s assessment seemed prophetic after the aforementioned Purdy’s four-interception performance on Christmas night in San Francisco 49ers’ 33-19 home loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
Monday night’s outcome even had some talking heads reassessing what the outspoken former QB said.
Fox Sports NFL analyst Bucky Brooks posted this via X formerly known as Twitter.
“Maybe we need to revisit the game manager vs game changer conversation Cam Newton suggested.”
Interesting when you consider how hard folks went at Newton for making a true statement.
Newton’s Been Accurate About All Four MVP Candidates
At the time of Newton’s comments, all four of the QBs he mentioned were in the thick of the MVP race in some form. Since then, all have seen their chances of winning the award decrease dramatically. That’s even further proof that what Newton said was definitely valid, because their résumés weren’t strong enough to overcome a few games of subpar play, or in Purdy’s case a four-interception night.
If somehow Purdy did still win the award, he’d be just the second QB to win it while having a game like that on his résumé, joining Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, who did it in 2001.
Monday’s loss was a clear indication that the game-changer in the Niners offense is do-it-all running back Christian McCaffrey, who’s an MVP candidate himself, and if we’re splitting hairs here, he should be at the top of the list with whomever is currently there.
Newton Reminds Us Via X
Never one to miss an opportunity to say I told you so, following Purdy’s third interception, Newton hit up X, formerly known as Twitter, to post this emoji.
It was the least that Newton — just one of two players to win both a Heisman and NFL MVP— could do.
